An EgyptAir delegation will head to the United States on Tuesday to respond to the preliminary US report on the October 1999 crash of an EgyptAir flight in which 217 people died, airline sources said.

The delegation will give its response on Wednesday to the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report on the origins of the crash, EgyptAir security chief Shaker Qelada said Sunday, quoted by AFP.

Egyptian authorities had 60 days to prepare their response to the report, which was handed to them on April 19.

"Our response includes our objections to the report and the Egyptian point of view, all of it backed by facts and technical data, disregarding rumors," Qelada told the press.

The NTSB will publish its final report once it has examined the Egyptian response, he added.

The EgyptAir plane crashed into the Atlantic shortly after take-off from New York on Oct. 31, 1999, killing all 217 people aboard.

The US report had put forward the theory of a suicide by the plane's co-pilot, Gamil Al Battuti, alleging he deliberately caused the crash.

Following the NTSB's delivery to Cairo of the report, EgyptAir called for investigators "to take into consideration the possibility of a mechanical problem in the altitude control system."

NTSB’s final report will contain conclusions, a probable cause, and possibly safety recommendations that were developed during the investigation, according to AirWise news.

Media reports had said that that it was Battuti who pushed forward on the controls, putting the plane into a fatal dive, and that there were no signs of any mechanical problem that could have caused the crash – Albawaba.com